Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski looked somber as they returned to their Manhattan penthouse, while MSNBC is set to cut fellow star Rachel Maddow’s salary amid slumping ratings.
The couple’s secret Mar-a-Lago meeting of Donald Trump saw viewers flee and critics decry their hypocrisy, even as the couple dismissed criticism of their show on Tuesday.
Their careers could be in flux as parent company Comcast is set to make a spin-off. MSNBC is about to make some radical changes, prompting the co-hosts to joke that they could lose that same penthouse earlier this week.
It appears salaries for key talent will be cut, following the lead of Liberal rivals CNN, as Rachel Maddow has signed a new deal that will see her pay cut from $30 million a year to $25 million.
An anonymous executive called Maddow “ratings Viagra” and regularly drew significantly more viewers than the rest of the network’s primetime lineup.
Amid the embarrassment, DailyMail.com spotted Brzezinski, 57, looking somber as they entered their New York City building on Wednesday.
She faced a photographer as she stepped out of a limousine and carried her bags inside, wearing a striking ensemble of knee-high boots, a plaid cape and a lilac sweater.
Scarborough, 61, looked dapper in a blue suit as he kept his head down.
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (pictured) wore somber looks as they returned to their Manhattan penthouse as ratings continued to decline and MSNBC was set to cut fellow star Rachel Maddow’s salary
During the couple’s secret Mar-a-Lago meeting with Donald Trump, viewers fled and critics decried their hypocrisy, even as the couple rejected criticism of their show on Tuesday
Amid the embarrassment, DailyMail.com spotted 57-year-old Mika looking somber as they entered their building in New York City
On Thursday, it was revealed that Morning Joe ratings are down 15% overall and down a whopping 41% in the 25-54 year old demographic that craves cable news since the Trump meeting was revealed.
The show went from 770,000 viewers on Monday, to 680,000 Tuesday, to 647,000 Wednesday, per Variety.
A source said The ankle boot that the Morning Joe rebrand to make peace with Trump is part of the network having a come-to-Jesus moment that goes too far left during the election.
“We were so Harris propaganda that viewers were shocked when she lost. It turned into one giant circular shock and echo chamber. If MSNBC wants to serve its viewers, they can’t keep them in fantasy land.”
However, keeping liberal star Maddow on the air even one night a week was non-negotiable.
‘No one else can do what she does. You can’t build a brand like that overnight.’
Comcast’s move to spin off its NBCUniversal networks would have been a baffling move years ago, as its channel fleet was previously among the company’s most profitable assets.
But the decision means channels like MSNBC, USA, Oxygen, E! and Golf Channel are being spun off into a separate entity – and a separate balance sheet.
Salaries for key talent appear to be facing cuts, following the lead of Liberal rivals CNN, as Rachel Maddow has signed a new deal that will see her pay cut from $30 million a year to $25 million
Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski this week waded into Comcast’s move to spin off their employer MSNBC, with Scarborough joking that it would mean his wife would have to “give up her penthouse.”
Comcast executives said they will not spin off all the channels and will keep Bravo, the Peacock streaming service and the NBC broadcast network under the parent company.
But by shedding its expensive networks, Comcast is hedging its bets that it can expand its movie studios and theme park industries without being dragged down by the problems of traditional television news.
It also comes at a delicate time for the Morning Joe hosts after it was revealed that Joe and Mika visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago – after a years-long feud that reached a fever pitch when Scarborough compared him to Adolf Hitler – leading to anger among viewers of the liberal show.
Amid the backlash, Morning Joe staffers have insisted the Florida meeting was “f***ing worth it.”
Trump, for his part, told Fox News that he attended the meeting because “in order to make America great again, it is very important, if not essential, to have a free, fair and open media or press.”
Trump and the ‘Morning Joe’ stars have had a contentious relationship since the Republican entered politics – resulting in Scarborough leaving the Republican party.
During the 2024 election, Morning Joe repeatedly denounced Trump as a racist, sexist and fascist, telling viewers he did not deserve to be president. At one point, Scarborough said Trump was “acting completely against Hitler” and Brzezinski condemned him for repeating the “dangerous language of infamous fascist leaders.”
Brzezinski said Monday that they decided to reach out to Trump for “the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself” because their viewers and “ordinary citizens” have expressed fear following Trump’s election and his recent Cabinet selections.
It also comes at a delicate time for the Morning Joe hosts after it was revealed that Joe and Mika visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Trump appeared on the show dozens of times before the couple fell out in spectacular fashion during the 2016 election cycle
Scarborough continued, saying the three “discussed many issues, including abortion, mass deportation, threats of political retaliation against political opponents and media outlets.”
Rumors swirled that the pair decided to make amends with Trump out of fear that President-elect would allow Matt Gaetz to lead an investigation into conspiracy theories surrounding the 2001 death of Joe Scarborough’s intern. MSNBC denied the story.
Trump was a regular contributor to Morning Joe, and Scarborough was an early cheerleader for the billionaire maverick for the 2016 Republican nomination.
But relations soured when Trump won a surprise victory in the Republican primaries and began to look like a serious challenger to Democrats’ Hillary Clinton.
The four-hour morning show became a bastion of the Democratic establishment after Trump’s first term, with President Joe Biden routinely listening in as he did his morning exercises to watch his acolytes promote the party’s talking points.
Now that Trump is in the White House and Scarborough is engaged to co-host Brzezinski, he is beginning to cement his show’s identity as an outpost of opposition to the new administration.
Comcast’s announcement this week is indicative of the significant changes the media industry has faced in recent years, which have also forced a slew of media outlets to downsize their workforces.